US821919A - Treatment of tobacco. - Google Patents

Description

No. 821,919. PATENTED MAY 29, 1906. A. C. & C. Q. BEDORTHA TREATMENT OF TOBACCO.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1900.

INVENTORS A-Cf s-A GQ. BEDQRTHA,

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS,

. ess we add thereto bacteria or cultures t onrrnn S A ES) PATENT orrron.

ALFRED o. BEDORTHA'AND GEORGE o. BEDORTHA, or WINDSOR,

\ ooNNEoTwUT.

TREATMENT OF TOBACCO.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 1906.

Application filed April 19, 1900. Serial No. 13,452.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED O. BEDORTHA and GEORGE Q. BEDORTHA, citizens of the United States, and residents of Windsor, in the county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Treatment of Tobacco, of which the following is a full and true description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, showlng a form of apparatus useful in carrying out our new process.

The object of our invention is to treat tobacco of an inferior or less esteemed flavor soas to give it another and more desirable flavor, thereby enhancing its commercial value.

Our invention is particularly applied to the treatment of tobacco comprising, first, sterilizing the tobacco under such conditions and sufficiently long-continued as to destroy the original bacteria and spores egristing thereon, then adding to the sterilized tobacco bacteria or cultures thereof to produce a new and characteristic fiavor, and subse uently sub jecting the tobacco to fermentation.

The present invention is based upon the discovery that the sterilization of the tobacco may be effected by subjecting it to the action of hot air and that there are certain advantages secured by practicing the hot-air process, notably in the treatment of-tobacco to be used as cigar-wra pers; v

We have also devise novel apparatus for subjecting tobacco to the sterilizing action of hot air.

In carrying out our invention we first subject the tobacco to the action of hot air,

.whereby it is thoroughly sterilized and the bacteria and spores existingthereo'n are destroyed, and before subjecting the saidtobacco to a fermenting or ripening rocreof of the kind existing or developed upon the higher grade tobacco at the plantations. The to acco is then piled and set aside in 'wellknown ways for the purpose of allowing the leaves to ferment or sweat or ripen.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated a form of apparatus, useful in treating tobacco according to our rocess.

Figure 1 illustrates a horizonta longitudinal section of one form of apparatus for carryingout our new process, and Fig. 2' illustrates a vertical longitudinal section of the said apparatus.

sai

v heater is heated by Steam-pipes-SQ,

As illustrated, the sterilizer has an inner casing Band an outer casing C, each permanently closed at its rear end by concaved plates D E, respectively. The casingsB and- C and end plates D and E are, separated steam-jacket F.

G is an annular plate at the front of the sterilizer, adapted to support the door H hin ed thereto, as well as to haveeither the door H or a second door or cover Y, hereinafter described, bolted thereto,

J and K indicate pipes connected with any suitable source of supply for delivering steam I to the steam-jacket F. I

The door H is hinged to the end ring the sterilizer. Said end ring is provide with bolts R, hinged thereto and having their outer threaded ends provided with clampingnuts, so, as to swing outwardly when the cover Y is removed. The door H is provlded with radial edge slots Q, in which the bolts R fit when the door is shut, the door beingthen tightly locked by screwing the clampingnuts.

Y A second door, Y, preferably made of thick heavy planking or of wood and metal, may be fitted to or removed from the open end of the sterilizer when the first-named door H is swung to an open position. The door Y 1s provided with radial edge slots in positions, and preferably in size and number also, corresponding to the slots Q in the hinged door H. The removable door Y has two openings through it, one being at or near the center for a'dmittin a pipe I P, which extends a considerable istance into the sterilizer, and a second, opening near to the edge ofthe door, for admitting a pipe E P, the said plpes I P and E P fitting the said openings tightly, but removably.

- Within the sterilizer are tracks T, wh ch are of assistance when a car or truck U is employed to bring the tobacco under treatment into or out of the sterilizer.

The pipes I P and E P are connected to the incoming andioutgoiitg ports of an air heating and circulating device comprising a heater H, containing steam-heated pipes, and a connected rotary blower or fan F.

6.0 from each other by a space constituting a .70 G of second heater Z is connected by a pipe Z IIC In practicing our new process for treating plish this, we employ a number of racks W, 1

" all bacteriaand splores shall be killed 'b piled upon a wheeled car 'U, the tobacco bemg laced between the racks. The car U, whic travels upon the tracks T, is then ushed into thesterilizer, and the door Y is olted in lace, completel closing the entrance 'to t e sterilizen e pi es I P and E P are then fitted through jsai' d 'OOI and. the'circulating-fan F is started. I This'causes air to be drawn from the sterilizer thro'u h; pipe E P, sucked through the heater (where it becomes heated ,)and the fan then forces the heated air through the pipe I P into the sterilizer in such a position as to strike the racks on the car and to circulate. between said racks and between the leaves of the tobacco placed thereon. After passing .through the racks the hot air returns along the sides, bottom, and topof the steril- 1zer to the pipe E P, again pa'ssing'into theg heater. The circulation and reheating of' the air is continued until the air has reached a temperature (say 250 Fahrenheit) *sufi'i, ciently high to destroy the bacteria and; spores existing on the tobacco. We do not? desire, however, to be understood as confinf ing ourselves to 'the'em'ployment of any cer- "tam temperature, nor do we desire to be; understood asdeclaring'it to be-essen'tial that sub-3 e'ac'tion of the 'c'ircu ating i It is obvious that as long as -the'tobacco is freed by the employment of hot air? from the original bacterial growth it is im-; material, for the, purposes of our invention, how that is done. a y

' It is desirable to thorough] the to-' bacco before sterilizing it. therwise the j ecting them to t hot air tends to cause the moisture of the} leaves to be converted into steam, which boils on and in the leaves, thus causingan effeet which is similar to that roduced b'y'boiling the tobacco in water. his unless guarded against would -result in injuryto the quality and structure of theleaves. This step in drying the leaves is not that employed in the 0111i of the tobacco, but is.

a subsequent o 'e'ration. The tobacco after curing has to ecome moist, in order to be handled in thesheds without breaking and 'is fiordinajrily kept so for the fermenting proc- 'ess. Thedryin stepem'plo ed by us makes possible the apglication of eat as a stem-.-

fployed, removed the pipes I the pockets we may agent without in'ury tothe leaves'and shortens the time by al owing the air to penetrate between the leaves and between the folds of the leaves, which it would not do if the leaves were moist and flexible. It is to be understood that when we speak of 'drying tobacco we mean a drying which will correspond to air-drying or kilrf-drying, which is usually carried out at less than 150 Fahrenheit, and not a-drying to render the tobacco water-free, as the term is used in chemical analysis and which is usually efiected at about 212 Fahrenheit. This drying renders bacteria very resistant to steril-- izing influences, and especially to destruction by heat. While active "bacteria, notably certain pathogenic erms and the lactic-acid bacteria, are killed by the use'of a temperature of 160 Fahrenheit from ten to fifteen minutes, it must'be rememberedthat the dry and more resistant spores, which spores is the condition of the tobacco bacteria after drying, require a 'far'greater heat and longer continued. than do 'the'active bacteria themselves. In our practice we have found that at-least 250 Fahrenheit, lastin for'thirty minutes, is'necess'ary to destroyt ese spores: We find that generally there are small pockets of air between some of the leaves which are being treated by the circulation of hot air and that some of "these pockets not be raised to a temperature sufliciently high to kill the nearby A acteria and spores. In order to heat the air in the pockets sulficiently to kill the bacteria and spores, we have, when "the illustrated a p'aratus'is emand E P and have unbolted the door Y and closed the main door H. A pump or othercompr'essing fassuring the destruction of the bacteria and spores. The supply of hot air is then cut-off and-the door H'un olted.

Instead of umping the hot air into the sterilizer'for t e 'purfppse of heatin the air in st remove a1 or nearly all, of the air from the sterilizer, thereby at atmospheric pressure to enter mto the chamber. This will assure the entrance of the hot airfintoany'pockets. 4 u

The practice of the two ste s-first, thoroughly the tobacco be ore subjecting the same to a sterilizing action, and,second,

causing a vacuum'and then allowing hot air thoroughly sterilizing the same by subjecting all parts of the Same to the heat of hot air results in the production. of dry sterilized tobacco with its structure and quality unin- 'ured, and while awaiting the addition of toacco bacteria thereto there will be no tendency of the leaves to rot or spoil. The sterilized tobacco may then be set aside to be again subjected to a second sterilization, if desired, in case undeveloped spores existing on the tobacco have not been destroyed.

In carryin out the process it is desirable to prevent t'e heat from escaping through the walls of the sterilizer, and in the form of apparatus illustrated this is accom lished by maintaining'the steam-jacket F fu of steam, and the heat of the steam also contributes to the heating of the air circulated or umped into the sterilizer. The keeping of t e inner walls of the sterilizer heated also prevents the accumulation or precipitation of moisture therein. This is es ecially advantageous when the a paratus 1S employed to sterilize tobacco to be used for cigar-wrappers, which 2 5 if steam or precipitated moisture were used would spot or pit the tobacco, decreasing its commercial value.

The tobacco having been thoroughly sterilized, and after coohng, is inoculated with bacteria obtained from tobacco the flavor of which is to be re roduced or with cultures of such bacteria. e refer that the inoculation be produced by ipping the leaves into a culture, or the inoculatlon may be effected by 3 5 spraying onto or otherwise adding to the tobacco a culture containing bacteria of the desired kind or kinds. For the purpose of producing the desired cultures bacteria are isolated from tobacco (say Havana tobacco) and are grown in a suitable mediuma'water extract of ripe tobacco-leaves, for instance until they reach a sufficient number, say one hundred million to the pound. In order to as-.-

certain whether the cultures are of the detrial lots 0 tobacco'may be inoculated and quickly fermented and the flavor tested by smoking or otherwise. The spraying of the cultures may be done by thoroughly shaking the tobacco-leaves before a jet or stream into which the cultures are introduced, preferably at a right angle to the jet or stream, or bacteria and powdered licorice or other material suitable for bacteria food may be added. If desired,sprayin machinerymaybe used, and

the cultures a ded may be dry or liquid.

After inoculation the tobacco may be further moistened, if desired, and then bulked down sired strength or of the proper kind, small ization by hot air was attempted the temperature of the air would necessarily be very high (higher than that of steam) and that the articles undergoing sterilization would have to'be treated for a lon er time than when steam was employed. i uch a process employing a long-continued high temperature was believed to be useful only when tough hard materials of the same structure throughout for instance, earthenware, horsehair, &c.- were to be'sterilized. Tobacco-leaves, however, have hard and toughparts the stems and fibers and very tender soft parts, andbecause of the great differences between the parts the hot air process of sterilization would be considered inapplicable to tobacco, inasmuch as the leaves would be injured and for wrapper purposes rendered useless. Our experiments have also. demonstrated that when it is attemptedto sterilize tobacco by subjecting it to hot air there are several practioal difficulties. These have been overcome by our new process. The first of these-the tendency of the tender parts of the leaf to become charred when the high temperature is employedwe have overcome by causing the hot air to be circulated within thechamber and through the mass of tobacco, by which expedient we found the time of treatment of the. tobacco was materially reduced with de- 5 creased liability to' injure the tobacco. A second difliculty was that pocketsbetween leaves retained air and that this prevented thorough sterilization at or near the pockets unless the treatment was so'long continued as to injure the tobacco. As. hereinbefore described, this was overcome. by subjecting the tobacco to the action of hot'air under pressure after circulating hot air through the sterilizer.- i

Among the advantages due .to using the hot-air modification of our invention are the following: The leaves are not discolored, spotted, 'or pitted and do not lose their gloss and when moistened'for use take water well .10 and are not left harsh, dry, or stiff, but retain their flexibility and elasticity.

We do not herein claim the process of sterilizing tobacco,'then adding characterizing bacteria or cultures and bacterial food to the 1 15 tobacco, and finally fermenting the same.

, The apparatus described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings is one which we have found to be practical. Any

results almed at may be employed without .de afting from our invention.

at we claim, and desire to secure, is-

1. The process of treatment of tobacco, consisting in, first, \completely dryin the leaves of the tobacco, and then steri izing the tobacco by subjecting the same 'to the action of hot air under pressure, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The process of treatment of tobacco, 1 o

consisting in, first, completely drying the leaves of the: tobacco, and then sterilizingthe tobacco by subjecting the same to the action of a sterilizing medium, substantially as and 5 for the purpose described-L 3. The process of treatment of tobacco, consisting in 'sterllizing the tobacco by subjectin the same to the. action of hot air in ar-' tificia circulation, and in direct contact with 10 the tobacco, substantially as and for the purpose described 7 r 4. The process of treatment of tobacco,

consisting in sterilizing the tobacco by subjectingthe'same to the action of hot air in circulation, andsubsequently to the action of I 5 hot air under pressure greater than-that of the atmosphere, substantially as and -for the purpose described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names this 19th day of March, 1900.

- ALFRED C. BEDORTHA. GEORGE Q. BEDORTHA,

Inpresence of' FREDL P. Hour,

FRANK C. SUMNER-.-

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